CNN Anchor Highlights Vast Misinformation U.S. Is ‘Up Against’ As Trump Surgeon General Questions Vaccine Incentives
Topline
Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams—who earlier this week called into question the “public health trade-offs” of Covid-19 vaccine incentives like beer, lottery tickets and junk food—drew some pushback to his concerns during a Thursday interview as CNN host John Berman highlighted the vast challenges, including rampant online misinformation, U.S. officials are having to contend with in the vaccine rollout.
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 24: U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams testifies during a Senate Finance … [+]
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Key Facts
Adams, who served as surgeon general under former President Donald Trump, appeared on CNN’s “New Day” program to expand upon the concerns he first outlined on Tuesday.
“We have governments endorsing gun giveaways, marijuana joints for jabs and the president of the United State essentially participating in a giant beer commercial,” the ex-surgeon general said Thursday, adding he’s supportive of “doing what we can to get people vaccinated” but questions whether the benefits outweigh the risks of certain incentives.
Berman, a co-host of “New Day”, responded to the concerns by highlighting the “wave of misinformation” state and federal governments are “up against,” noting that some of it has almost been “sanctioned” by Republican federal officials.
The CNN anchor pointed specifically to a recent hearing in which Ohio GOP lawmakers invited a known conspiracy theorist (and licensed doctor in the state) who parroted debunked falsehoods about Covid-19 shots magnetizing people and creating 5G interfaces.
“What do you do with that when people in sworn testimony are saying things with that?” Berman asked.
Crucial Quote
Adams said he was “deeply disturbed” by the misinformation, but still held there are more positive ways to encourage people to get inoculated. “We know that the way you get people to change their behaviors is by engaging them and what I’ve been pleading for, what I really want the federal and state and local officials to do is to sit down and engage these communities,” said Adams, suggesting healthy incentives like “grocery giveaways.”
Key Background
Though others have questioned the efficacy of incentives, Adams appears to be in the minority with his concerns about the perks themselves. States have been rolling out increasingly eye-popping incentives to combat sinking vaccination rates as they race toward herd immunity. And so far these incentives seem to be successful: Ohio saw vaccinations increase 45% from its first-of-its kind $1 lottery for vaccinated residents
Tangent
Adams emerged as a key spokesperson for the Trump administration amid its largely criticized pandemic response. Contrasting with other top Trump officials, Adams frequently appealed to the public to follow safety precautions but drew some scrutiny for initially downplaying the virus and for some of the language he used while discussing racial disparities in Covid-19 contraction. He resigned from his post in January at the request of the Biden administration and has since continued to publicly comment on the federal government’s pandemic response.
Further Reading
“Trump Surgeon General Says He’s Growing Uncomfortable’ With Vaccine Incentives” (Forbes)
